The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Fiona Apple - Sleep To Dream
(10" EP, Work, 1997, 664428 0)



A1 SLeep To Dream
A2 Never Is A Promise
B1 Sullen Girl (Live)
B2 Pale September (Live)

I like Fiona Apple, I like her music, I like her attitude, and I like the way that if she has something to say, she says it, whether others like it or not.

Fiona is a singer/songwriter, kind of like a rockier, jazzier version of Suzanne Vega or Tanita Tikarum.

She got an MTV award for this single and was widely criticised as "ungrateful" because in her acceptance speech she said:

"This world is bullshit, and you shouldn't model your life on what we think is cool, and what we're wearing and what we're saying."

I say top marks to her, she's right. People shouldn't model their lives on popstars, they should be themselves, I'd say that speech shows a lack of arrogance. Fair play to her AFAIAC.

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Girlschool - Hit & Run
(10" EP, Bronze, 1981, BROX 118)



A Hit & Run
B1 Tonight
B2 Tush

Girslchool are a British all female band formed in 1978 around the time when the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was just starting, they were one of thew earliest bands associated with that scene. Girslschool have never split and are still going making them the longest running all girl band ever. Not only that, the band still contains three of the original four members (Kelly Johnson died of cancer in 2007). Their name is a result of them all still being at school when the first incarnation of the band (called Painted Lady) were formed. Their peak years were the early 80s, this was one of their biggest singles, although they're probably better known for their collaboration with Motorhead which we'll come to when we get to M.

For the 90s on they have concentrated on live shows. I have seen Girlschool live, ironically, supporting Gary Glitter long before we all knew he was a perve.

Girlschool made their name on their ability, both playing and songwriting. They never went down the route of loads of make up and skimpy costumes. They are a true no nonsense metal band. Indeed Gerry Bron, who signed them to his Bronze Records commented after first seeing them rehearse "I went to an early rehearsal and was surprised how well (Girlschool) played their instruments – how terribly chauvinistic of me. None of them were particularly good looking."

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Jesus & Mary Chain - Sometimes Always
(10" EP, blanco y negro, 1994, NEG 70TE, Numbered Ltd Ed)



A1 Sometimes Always
A2 The Perfect Crime
B1 Little Stars
B2 Drop Re-recorded

The Jesus and Mary Chain started out as noise merchants. Often playing gigs with their backs to the audience, playing for as little as 10 minutes before walking off stage and making cryptic irrelevent responses to press questions, by 1994, they had matured a bit, and as a result become less edgy. This is good, but it's no "Some Candy Talking".

I do agree with this comment from a youtube user to the video though:

"these boy-girl songs where both sing by turns rarely work because they depend so much on the chemistry between both singers. This song Works because they both want to fuck each other"

The female vocals on this are Hope Sandoval, an American singer songwriter who I have nothing else by, nor have I heard anything. Re-listening to this though, I really should check her stuff out, I like her voice.

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Juliana Hatfield Three - My Sister
(10" EP, EastWest, 1993, YZ767TE)



A1 My Sister (LP Version)
A2 Put It Away
B1 A Dame With A Rod (Demo Version)
B2 Ruthless

Juliana is a singer songwriter, her mother was a fashion critic and she was introduced to rock music in the 70s by her babysitter, who was into punk. After singing with a couple of bands that didn't get anywhere (although Blake's Babies had a largish cult following, got some radio play in the US and did some largish tours) she went solo in 91. !993 finally saw her get the success she wanted with an album called Become What You Are (recorded under the name Juliana Hatfield Three). This is from that album.

This single was her biggest success, it got a huge amount of airplay on MTV (which is where I first heard it, this was the first of her tracks I heard). She is still recording, her most recent album came out in 2012.

The musical influence is indy pop. The song explores the love-hate relationship between siblings.

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Juliana Hatfield Three - For The Birds
(10" EP, EastWest, 1993, YZ791TE)



A1 For The Birds
A2 Hello, My Name Is Baby
B1 I Got No Idols (Piana Version)
B2 Batwing

I seemed to have done none this weekend. Oh well never mind, this is from the same album as the other one!

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

LL Cool J - Going Back To Cali / Jack The Ripper
(10" EP, Def Jam, 1987, LLCJ Q2, Ltd Ed, Double Grooved)



A Groove 1 Going Back To Cali
A Groove 2 Jack The Ripper
B I Can't Live Without My Radio

Nice gimmick, this record has two grooves on the A side instead of the normal one. This means that when you play it you never know which of the two tracks you will get.

I already spoke about LL Cool J in the other thread, one of the pioneers of hip hop and one of the acts responsible for the success of the legendary Def Jam Records.

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Machine Head - Old
(10" EP, Roadrunner, 1995, RR 2340-8, Ltd Ed, Picture disc)



A1 Old
A2 A NAtion On Fire (Demo Version)
B1 Real Lies/Fuck It All (Demo Version)
B2 Old (Demo Version)

This is unusual, a picture disc in a normal sleeve, normally picture disc are marketed in a clear plastic sleeve so you can see what you're buying. In this case the disc itself looks like this:



This is pure thrash metal. No messing. They formed in 1991 in California. Vocalist Rob Flyn had been in a band called Vio-lence since the mod 80s, but left after a particularly nasty fight between the band and a local gang. He then formed Machine Head to give himself a new start. They got their deal with metal label, Roadrunner off the back of their first demo.

7 albums on, their still going. They got dumped from their label and nearly split in 2002. Just after 9/11 (2001) they nreleased a single called Crashing Around You, the video featured burning buildings. It wasn't deliberate, just bad timing, the video was made before 7/11, ut as it was released afterwards it caused a furore in the States and nobody would play it. They resigned to their label later the same year and carried on.

Anyway, this is from long before that. Old is from their first album, Burn My Eyes. It sold very well, indeed, right up untill 1999 it was Roadrunner's best selling album. This song contains the line the album was named for.

Old is a story slagging off the excesses of the Church. The old man in the song is the Church itself. It could have been written directly for those nutty baptists that go around picketting funerals, but they weren't known about then (I'm not sure they actually existed). Basically the song is against Christian fundamentalism, particularly that found in the Deep South.


I am the man that defends all things profane
6000 years is the time that I shall reign
And with a grin drank the blood of holy swine
Impurity made the blood turn into wine

Old man, dead hand
If only in their insanity
The lie feeds off their greed
Jesus wept

I am the pain that feeds off your weaknesses
A sickening born of hate not of the blessed
And with that time I will crush all things they prey
Destroying all from the known to the arcane

Old man, dead hand
If only in their insanity
The lie feeds off their greed
Jesus wept

Burn my eyes and try to blind me
Bury me so they won't find me
Try to suck my power empty
Got no crown of thorns on me

So burn my eyes and try to blind
Bury me so they won't find
Try to suck my power dry
You got no crown of thorns on me

Old man, dead hand
If only in their insanity
The lie feeds off their greed
Jesus wept

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Manic Street Preachers - She Is Suffering
(10" EP, Epic, 1994, 660895 0)



A She Is Suffering (7" Radio Edit)
B1 The Drowners
B2 Stay With Me

There were some shocking omissions in the 12" thread, the Manics were one of them. The earlier stuff of theirs I have is all on 7" and the later stuff on CD.

The Manics can't ever be accused of taking the easy route to the top. Disaster seems to find them.

The Manics formed in Wales in 1986, they're still going and all three of the current band were in the original line-up. The only change is the disappearance of rhythm guitarist, Richey Edwards, who went missing in February 1995, and still has not been seen since. In 2008, he was officially declared "presumed dead". IMO, even though they released some of their more successful stuff after he went missing, they have never been as good since. Richey was NOT musically talented, half the time on stage he was miming while the rest of the band were playing, he was, however, an excellent lyricist and wrote most of the bands lyrics before he disappeared. In 1991 he was accused by an NME journalist of not being serious about punk ethics, Richie's reply was to carve 4 Real into his own arm. In 1995 he withdrew about 2 grand from his bank account. Paid a taxi driver cash to drive him all over childhood spots in Wales before being dropped at the Servern Services. His car was reported abandined there late February and had the appearance of being lived in. He has never been seen since. Some people think he committed suicide off the bridge, others, inlcuding the band, don't.

This single came from the band's third album (The Holy Bible), and album which didn't sell particularly well despite rave reviews in all the music press. It was written during Richie's darkest times. Richie was hospitalised during a lot of the protion of this album and disappeared after it's release. The band almost split, going on hiatus for 6 months, it was Richie's family who persuaded them to keep going. They never replaced him, and to this day, keep a share of all royalties aside in case he ever comes back.

According to Richie it's about "Desire. In other bibles and holy books, no truth is possible until you empty yourself of desire. All commitment otherwise is fake/lies/economic convenience."
Even though the title track is listed as a 7" mix, this was never released on 7", indeed this 10" was the only vinyl version. B1 is a live cover of the Suede track (this piece of vinyl was it's only release).

I only saw the band live once, at the Reading Festival in 1992, they were rawer, rougher and punkier then. I think I saw them at their best.

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Manic Street Preachers - The Masses Against The Classes
(10" EP, Epic, 2000, 668530 6, Ltd Ed)



A The Masses Against The Classes
B1 Close My Eyes
B2 Rock And Roll Music

This was hard to get. It wasn't just THIS version that was limited edition, the entire release was limited edition, and the song didn't appear on any album. It was released mfor one day only, Sony released it, then deleted it the same day, meaning that once it had sold out, it was gone. It entered the UK charts at number one, with no promotion, and left the charts the following week!

There is no official video for it.

The Fork Me 10" vinyl collection thread

Meat Loaf - Getting Away With Murder
(10" single, Arista, 1986, ARIST 10603, Round sleeve)



A Getting Away With Murder (Scott Free Mix)
B Rock 'n' Roll Hero

This was from the Blind Before I Stop album, produced by Frank Farian, Meat Loaf didn't like the production yadda yadda yadda, we did all that in the other thread!

So, let's talk about THIS release because it's a cool package. It opens up thusly:



which I think is pretty cool. It's the only one I have like that!

I haven't got a fucking clue what the producer of the video was on though...